Netherlands Travel Facts & Tips

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Captial City	Amsterdam

Dialing Code	(00) 30

Emergency Numbers	Ambulance, police & fire: 112

Weather	The climate is fairly temperate, similar to that in England. The best time to visit the Netherlands is over the summer or in spring when the flowers are in bloom – May for example, is tulip-season! Temperatures during the summer vary although generally they are around 14°C to 19°C. The winter months tend to be clear and frosty, with the coldest period being the time between December and March. Average temperatures in winter range from 1°C down to -4°C, so it can get quite cold, although temperatures below -10°C are rare.

Tourist Board website	http://www.holland.com

Most Famous For	Tulips, cheese, coffee shops, painters, windmills

Useful Phrases	Hallo (hello); dag (goodbye); bedankt (thank you); sorry/excuses (sorry)

Accommodation	You should book you accommodation in the Netherlands in advance, especially during high season. Tourist offices (as well as Amsterdam’s central station GWK exchange office) offer hotel booking services. Unless stated otherwise, breakfast is always included in the price. If you’d like to stay in a hostel, there are plenty of them throughout the country e.g. 'Stayokay' which is a chain of 30 hostels situated in unique, beautiful places. The Dutch are famous for their passion for camping – so when staying in the Netherlands, why not try that too? A lot of campsites can be found in the Randstad area (the area around the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrect), which is one of the most popular tourist regions.

Business Hours	Typical opening hours for shops are Tuesday to Friday between 09.00 and 18.00 and 09.00 - 17.00 on Saturdays. Many shops and banks close on Monday mornings, opening instead around lunchtime until 18.00. Most larger towns and cities have late-night shopping until 21.00 on Thursdays/Fridays. Here you will also find that most shops open between 12.00 - 17.00 and there may be longer opening hours on other days in the major cities too.

Visas	In respect of stays of up to 3 months, EU citizens as well as citizens from Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Switzerland, Andorra, Brunei, Cyprus, Israel, Jamaica, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, and countries in Central and Latin America do NOT need a visa. People from countries not listed above will have to get a visa before entering the Netherlands.

Tipping	In restaurants the service charge is included in the price. However if you really feel that the service was exceptional, you can leave an additional tip of 5-10% on top of the price on the bill.

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